I'm almost a pipe maker!

[caskwith]

Move to the UK, 2nd hand lathes are pretty easy to come by here if you dont mind driving a bit to collect, they are also often in fairly good condition as long as you are a bit savvy. When I wanted a lathe my friend Paul found one for me within a few weeks just half an hour away, price was reasonable and after an hour or two cleaning up and adjusting gibs etc it was ready to roll. Of course buying all the tooling cost nearly as much as the lathe did but hey ho lol.

I am now on the lookout for one of those minature penturners lathes, I have an idea that it would be really good for turning the side taper/flare on stems.

[Tyler]

Still no lathe, Tyler? I thought you'd gotten a Jet or some such. That little SB today wasn't an "almost." "Almost" is when you talk to the guy about it, he says he'll hold it for you, you jump in your truck, and just when you get there another guy is pulling out with the lathe in the back of HIS truck.

Ouch, did that happen to you?! That would be terrible.

Ok, then mine was a close-as-I've-ever-gotten lathe for West Texas. They just don't come up for sale out here.

I do have two lathes, a Delta Midi wood lathe and a Taig. Nothing that would earn me some strips on my arm and a new business card that says, "pipe maker".

If you've got a 3-jaw chuck for the Midi you're in as good a shape as many. 3 pipes a year doesn't say you don't have equipment, it just says you don't have time. You'll probably wind up buying something new like a PM or Grizzly and having it shipped. Even if somebody here in the Rust Belt found something used for you, by the time you fetched (and fixed it up, used lathes are RARELY ready to go) it you'd be out the equivalent of your savings in gas and time.

Yep, I expect I'll get a PM or similar someday. I got excited yesterday because it was the first decent looking lathe deal I've seen in a few years of watching the West Texas used equipment market.

In addition to pipes, I also make a bamboo rod or two. But it's true, I have no real need. There is nothing I can't do with my current setup. I could be more efficient, and I'd love a collet-capable lathe so I could more easily make ferrules for rods, but I can't complain. I have plenty of great tools.

I'll be honest. I just WANT a nice metal lathe. They are just so cool.

Tyler

[RadDavis]

If you've got a 3-jaw chuck for the Midi you're in as good a shape as many. 3 pipes a year doesn't say you don't have equipment, it just says you don't have time. You'll probably wind up buying something new like a PM or Grizzly and having it shipped. Even if somebody here in the Rust Belt found something used for you, by the time you fetched (and fixed it up, used lathes are RARELY ready to go) it you'd be out the equivalent of your savings in gas and time.

I'll be honest. I just WANT a nice metal lathe. They are just so cool.

Tyler

I think, uh, you're preaching to the choir, there Tyler.

Rad

[Mike Messer]

Valuable Mike Messer post #537.

Actually I only have 485 posts, to date, but I thought the post was an awesome revelation. Don't you get it? ...The Mona Lisa

[e Markle]

Don't you get it? ...The Mona Lisa

Wait, YOU painted the Mona Lisa?!

[wdteipen]

Just keep in mind that if you order a PM lathe to be shipped you won't be a real pipemaker for about another year. Right Simeon?

[smokindawg]

The tools make you a real pipe maker? Hell, I've been a real pipe maker for a couple years now and didn't know it then.

Now if I could make real pipes instead of the fugley messes I've been turning out.

[Alden]

Dawg you make great pipes, just need to clean the lines up and give the pipe more definition IMO.

[Mike Messer]

Don't you get it? ...The Mona Lisa

Wait, YOU painted the Mona Lisa?!

No, No, No, it was painted by an Italian dude named, Leon, I think?